Channel integration

ABSTRACT

A unique session is obtained and an anonymous session is generated that maps to the session. The anonymous session is passed to a selected advertisement service, and the selected advertisement service provides, in response thereto, an interface, which is proxied together with an existing interface of a device (associated with the unique session) during the unique session for a consumer to interact with the proxied interface on the device.

BACKGROUND

Automated Teller Machines (ATMs) are deployed in prime real-estatelocations across the globe with captive consumers, who have ready accessto their bank accounts from the ATMs.

Yet, because of the unique security required by financial transactions,the architectures of ATMs and their networks are restricted and closed.So, ATMs cannot be interfaced with open-advertisement systems; as aresult, very few advertisements are capable of being pushed to aconsumer while at an ATM. In most cases, the advertisements that arepushed are associated with a particular bank's Customer RelationshipManagement (CRM) system and knowledge about the customer.

Consider a consumer, who prior to transacting at an ATM was performingInternet searches on his/her computer for cameras and reviewingdifferent types of cameras. A bank's CRM system, associated with the ATMthat the consumer visits, is entirely unaware of the fact that theconsumer is interested in a camera purchase. That is, the consumeractivity, which may be tied to online activity, is entirely divorcedfrom the bank's recorded preferences and habits for the consumer. So,the bank and other retailers, such as camera retailers, cannot takeadvantage of a consumer interacting with an ATM (with ready access tocash), who is actively searching for a new camera to purchase.

Consumers transacting at an ATM are considered high-value consumersbecause of their ready access to cash while that ATM, which permit theconsumers to make purchases.

SUMMARY

In various embodiments, methods and system for channel integration arepresented.

According to an embodiment, a method, comprises: aggregating, by aprocessor, a first profile of a consumer for a first channel with asecond profile of the consumer for a second channel into an aggregatedprofile; and delivering, by the processor, a custom advertisement to theconsumer having a session over at least one of: the first channel andthe second channel using the aggregated profile.

Optionally, aggregating further includes obtaining the first profilefrom a financial service associated with ATM transactions of theconsumer.

Optionally, delivering further includes providing the customizedadvertisement over an Internet session that is in progress between theconsumer and a service provider.

According to an embodiment, a method for channel integration isprovided. Specifically, in an embodiment, a transaction sessionidentifier for a transaction of a consumer at a Self-Service Terminal(SST) is mapped to an anonymous session identifier. An advertisementservice is selected and the anonymous session identifier is communicatedto the selected advertisement service. Finally, facilitation results inproxying an advertisement interface, supplied by the selectedadvertisement service, with an existing interface, which is associatedwith the transaction occurring on the SST.

In an embodiment, mapping further includes acquiring the transactionsession identifier from a financial service having access to thetransaction.

In an embodiment, selecting further includes querying a plurality ofadvertisement services to select the selected advertisement serviceusing consumer identifying information included with the transactionsession identifier.

In an embodiment, selecting further includes determining the selectedadvertisement service based on evaluation of policy conditions for thetransaction session identifier.

In an embodiment, communicating further includes providing a profile forthe consumer to the selected advertisement service.

In an embodiment, communicating further includes providing consumeridentifying information with the transaction session identifier to theselected advertisement service for the advertisement service to identifythe consumer.

In an embodiment, facilitating further includes passing theadvertisement interface as a script that is executed on the SST, andwherein script presentations are presented in a defined regionrepresenting an overlaid screen on a display of the SST, one or moreother screens in remaining regions of the display housing presentationsof the existing interface.

In an embodiment, facilitating further includes passing the transactionsession identifier and the advertisement interface to a financialservice having access to the transaction and the existing interface ofthe SST.

According to an embodiment, a transaction of a consumer on a SST isidentified and a session identifier and identifying information for theconsumer are identified from the transaction. The session identifier andthe identifying information are supplied to a channel integrationservice. Finally, an advertisement interface supplied by the channelintegration service is proxied, and presentations from the advertisementinterface presented in a first screen of the SST with otherpresentations presented in one or more additional screens of the SSTduring the transaction.

In an embodiment, identifying further includes obtaining notice of thetransaction from an intermediate server interposed between the SST andan enterprise servicing the transaction.

In an embodiment, obtaining further includes generating the sessionidentifier based on the transaction and the identifying information.

In an embodiment, supplying further includes providing a consumerprofile with the identifying information and the session identifier tothe channel integration service.

In an embodiment, proxying further includes executing a script thatproduces the presentations in the first screen.

In an embodiment, proxying further includes relaying actions detected bythe consumer during the transaction that occur within the first screento the channel integration service. In an embodiment of the lastembodiment, relaying further includes updating presentations within thefirst screen of the SST in response to response data received from thechannel integration service.

According to an embodiment, a Self-Service Terminal (SST) includes: adisplay; and a proxy module. The proxy module operable to: (i)identifying a transaction at the SST; and (ii) proxy an advertisementinterface producing first presentations on a first screen of the displaysimultaneously with other presentations produced during the transactionon at least one other screen of the display.

In an embodiment, the proxy module is further operable to: (iii)interact with a channel integration service to acquire the advertisementinterface.

In an embodiment, the proxy module is further operable to: (iii) selectan advertisement service to supply the advertisement interface.

In an embodiment, the proxy module is further operable to: (iii) supplya financial service with a session identifier that uniquely identifiesthe transaction. In an embodiment of the latter embodiment, the proxymodule is further operable to: (iv) supply consumer identifyinginformation and a customer profile for a consumer with the sessionidentifier to the financial service, the consumer engaged in thetransaction at the SST.

According to an embodiment a method comprises aggregating browsingactivity by a person over one or more channels (ATM, mobile phone, Web,and the like) and associating that browsing activity with a customeraccount or profile for subsequent use. The subsequent use may includerecommending products to that person or a person having a similarprofile to that person. Alternatively, the subsequent use may includedata analysis of the aggregated browsing activity.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

FIG. 1 is a diagram of an example architecture for practicing channelintegration at an Automated Teller Machine (ATM), according to anexample embodiment.

FIG. 2 is a diagram of a method for advertisement channel integration,according to an example embodiment.

FIG. 3 is a diagram of another method for advertisement channelintegration, according to an example embodiment.

FIG. 4 is a diagram of a SST having advertisement channel integrationcapabilities, according to an example embodiment.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION

FIG. 1 is a diagram of an example architecture for practicing channelintegration at an Automated Teller Machine (ATM), according to anexample embodiment. The architecture 140 is shown schematically ingreatly simplified form, with only those components relevant tounderstanding of this embodiment being illustrated. The variouscomponents are illustrated and the arrangement of the components ispresented for purposes of illustration only. It is to be noted thatother arrangements with more or less components are possible withoutdeparting from the channel integration presented herein and below.

The techniques, methods, and ATM 110G presented herein and below forchannel integration can be implemented in whole or in part in one, all,or some combination of the components shown with the architecture 100.The techniques and methods are programmed as executable instructions inmemory and/or non-transitory computer-readable storage media andprocessed on one or more processors associated with the components (mayalso be referred to as “modules”).

In the embodiment for the architecture 100, the methods and ATM 110G areimplemented as one or more hardware and software components of financialsystems or integrated with financial systems.

Specifically, the architecture 100 permits a consumer transaction at anATM 110G to experience the same directed marketing that the consumerexperiences on other communication channels 110 while at the ATM 110G.This is achieved by obtaining or assigning a communication sessionidentifier for a financial transaction that a consumer is performing atthe ATM 110G and generating another anonymous session identifier thatlinks the communication session identifier of the financial transaction.The financial service cloud 150 pushes the anonymous session identifierup to the channel integration server 130. The channel integration server130 identifies and selects one or more ad networks 120 and passes theanonymous session identifier. This creates a direct link between aselected ad network 120 and the ongoing financial communication sessionoccurring with the consumer on the ATM 110G. The select ad network 120has access to one or more profiles of the consumer over trackedcommunication channels 110. So, now the selected ad network 120 candisplay targeted advertisements to the consumer on the ATM 110G that arein the same format that the selected ad network would present if theconsumer was accessing one of the channels 110. The interface having thetargeted advertisement (from the selected ad network 120) is overlaid ontop of the ATM 110G interface for the financial transaction by thefinancial service cloud 140.

This provides consistency to the consumer and provides advertisers withaccess to a consumer when that consumer has ready access to a financialaccount associated with the financial transaction session.

In an embodiment, multiple profiles for a consumer span multiplechannels 110 and are federated and integrated for usage in providingcustom advertisements to a consumer at an ATM 110G. This can be achievedby acquiring access to customer profiles present over different channels110 from that which is associated with the ATM 110G when a consumer isat the ATM 110G. These profiles (associated with the consumer) can behoused by existing ad networks 120 (such as Google™, Amazon™, Groupon™Microsoft®, Adsense™, eBay®, and others). The channel integration server130 provides a mechanism for interfacing and using existing ApplicationProgramming Interfaces (APIs) of the ad networks 120 to acquire themultiple profiles of the consumer. The profiles are then federated and,perhaps, normalized in a standard format and communicated to thefinancial service cloud 140. The financial service cloud 140 has theability to provide an overlaid interface on the ATM 110G while aconsumer is at the ATM 110G performing a financial transaction.

In an embodiment, the financial service cloud 140 has access to afinancial cloud 150 to gain access (via an API to the financial cloud150) to a consumer's profile tied to that consumer's financialinstitution. The federated and normalized profiles (which may now alsoinclude a financial profile known to the consumer's financialinstitution) are inspected to determine relevant advertisements tooverlay (and provide access) on interfaces of the ATM 110G while theconsumer is performing a financial transaction at the ATM 110G. Therelevant information may be determined based on most recent knowntransactions and/or searches performed by the consumer over the channels110, which are present in the federated and normalized profiles.

The architecture 100 is now discussed in greater detail along with itscomponents in view of the discussion above. It is to be noted that themethods and ATM 110G presented herein are not just limited to ATMsolutions; that is, any SST terminal (kiosk, etc.) 110C or Point-Of-Sale(POS) terminal 110D for any industry can benefit from the channelintegration mechanisms discussed herein.

In an embodiment, the financial institution's consumer profilesassociated with its existing CRM system can be exposed to the other adnetworks 120 (through the channel integration server 130), assumingprivacy laws are properly complied with and/or consent is acquired fromthe consumer and the financial institution when needed. This provides aconsistent and up-to-date experience for the consumer regardless of thecommunication channel 110 being accessed by the consumer.

The architecture 100 includes communication channels 110, ad networks120, a channel integration server 130, a financial service cloud 140,and a financial cloud 150. The channels 110 include channels tied tocommunications associated with: email 110A, Web applications (servicesover the Internet) 1108, a kiosk 110C, a POS device 110D, a mobiledevice 110E, a call center 110F, and an ATM 110G.

As used herein a “cloud” may be viewed as a processing environment thatcan be tied to a single server or multiple servers, which aregeographically dispersed from one another. The cloud can also belogically constructed to include portions of multiple dispersed devicesthat are organized as one logical cloud processing environment.

The channels 110 represent transactions and/or actions that any givenconsumer may engage in. For example, the consumer may engage in emailcommunications associated with a known (registered or used) email 110Afor the consumer. The consumer may also have browser-based access to avariety of network services, which are associated with web applications1108. The web applications 1108 may, in some instances, include cookies,stored local to a processing device of the consumer, or stored remotelyin a profile associated with the web applications 1108. Moreover, whenthe consumer interacts with a Kiosk 110C and/or a POS device 110D, theconsumer may enter data (such as a loyalty card or credit card) thatpermits enterprise to capture and record profile data associated withthe consumer. The consumer may also use mobile devices 110E to accesssome web applications 1108 or to access mobile applications associatedwith services (Starbucks®, Walgreens®, Kroger®, Groupon™, and others).The profiles and actions associated with these mobile applications arealso recorded and noted by various ad networks 120. The consumer canalso, from time-to-time, call a call center 110F of a particularenterprise for purchases, support, complaints, etc. These interactionswith call centers 110F are stored in profiles, in some instances, withvarious ad networks 120. Finally, the consumer has a known profile tohis/her particular financial institution, which is retained for theconsumer in a financial cloud 150 for the consumer.

As used herein, a “profile” includes a variety of information tied to aconsumer. Some of this information includes, by way of example only,transaction history (electronic, phone, and/or in-person), contacthistory (electronic, phone, and/or in-person interactions noted by anenterprise when occurring with the consumer), complaints noted by theconsumer (electronic, phone, and/or in-person), electronic searchhistory, websites or services accessed by the consumer (electronic,phone, and/or in-person), preferences recorded by the consumer forvarious websites or services (electronic, phone, and/or in-person), andthe like.

The ad networks 120 are existing services that acquire consumer profiles(and may federated disparate consumer profiles) over specific channelsand, usually for, specific enterprises. For example, Groupon™ notesprofiles and activities of consumers when using Groupon™; Google™ notessearches and websites accessed by a consumer and uses that profileinformation and cookies to target advertisements to consumers using itsAdsense™ product; Amazon™ notes recorded preferences and activity ofconsumers for activity on its web site and devices, as does eBay® andMicrosoft®; and other enterprises also record profile information tiedto their consumers. In many cases, these captured profiles for theconsumers are accessible via APIs associated with the ad networks 120.In some situations, a consumer's cookie data stored in browsers on theirprocessing devices have profile information that the ad networks 120have access to when specific web applications or mobile applications areaccessed by the consumer.

The channel integration server 130 passes an anonymous sessionhandle/identifier for a consumer transacting at the ATM 110G. The actualfinancial transaction session handle mapped to the anonymous sessionidentifier by the channel integration server 130. The financialtransaction session identifier provided to the channel integrationserver 130 by the financial service cloud 140.

The channel integration server 130 also identifies one or more adnetworks 130 (such as Google™ Adsense™) and uses an API of that selectedad network 130 to pass the anonymous session identifier and consumeridentifying information obtained from the financial transaction sessionidentifier. The selected ad network 130 then provides a targetadvertisement in an interface back to the channel integration server 130along with the anonymous session identifier. The channel integrationserver 130 maps the anonymous session identifier to the financialtransaction session identifier and supplies the financial transactionsession identifier, the targeted advertisement in the adnetwork-supplied interface to the financial service cloud 140.

In an embodiment, the channel integration server 130 uses existing APIsof the ad networks 120 to access available profiles for a consumer. Theacquired profiles may be in a variety of different formats and mayinclude a variety of duplicate information for the consumer. So, thechannel integration server 130 is operable to normalize the disparateprofile formats and redact out duplicate information. The normalizedformat provides a single view of the consumer's multiple disparateprofiles, which were acquired from the ad networks 120. The singleconsumer profile, in the normalized format, is communicated from thechannel integration server 130 to the financial service cloud 140.

In an embodiment, the channel integration server 130 retains a databasehaving the normalized profiles for consumers that have previously beenidentified, such that just updates to the normalized profile is neededin real time when a particular consumer is access the ATM 110G.

In an embodiment, the channel integration service 130 provides afinancial profile (known by the financial cloud 150 and obtained fromthe financial service cloud 140) back to one or more of the ad networks120. The ad network(s) 120 using the financial profile to service theconsumer when the consumer has session on one of the channels 110A-110Fwith other known profiles that the ad network(s) have for the consumerover channels 110A-110F. This provides a mechanism to the ad networks120 to have a financial profile for the consumer that they otherwise tonot have and do not have access to because of the closed securearchitecture associated with ATMs 110G.

The financial service cloud 140 provides the financial transactionidentifier (for a financial transaction session that in progress betweena consumer and a financial institution on the ATM 110G) to the channelintegration server 130. In response (as noted above), the channelintegration server 130 receives back the financial transaction sessionidentifier and a targeted advertisement embedded in an interface beinghandled by the selected ad network 120.

The financial service cloud 140, then overlays the interface on top ofone more for interface screens associated with the financial transactionsession. The consumer can now interact with the overlaid interfacedirectly with the selected ad network 120 from the ATM 110G during thefinancial transaction session. The ad network 120 sending advertisementsand messages to its interface and receiving responses from the consumerby using the anonymous session identifier. The channel integrationserver 130 and the financial service cloud 140 acting as a proxy pipebetween the ad network 120 and the ATM 110G where the consumer isperforming the financial transaction session.

In an embodiment, when the anonymous session handle is passed to one ofthe ad networks 120, a financial profile for the consumer (acquired fromthe financial service cloud 140 and/or the financial cloud 150 by thechannel integration server 130) is attached to the anonymous sessionhandle in a format recognized by the ad network 120, such as and in oneembodiment, as an anonymous session cookie. This allows whateveraggregated profile that the ad network 120 may have to be augmented witha financial profile of the consumer, which that ad network 120previously did not have access to or knowledge about.

In another embodiment, when a consumer initiates a transaction at theATM 110G to start a financial transaction, the financial service cloud140, which provides services to the ATM 110G, is able to identify theconsumer. The identity information is passed by the financial servicecloud 140, using an API, to the channel integration server 130. Thechannel integration server 130 passes the identity information, usingmultiple APIs, to the ad networks 120; and the ad networks' APIs returnmultiple profiles back to the channel integration server 130 (theprocessing of which was presented above). The financial service cloud140 may also use an API for a financial cloud (financial institution)150 to acquire a financial profile for the consumer known and recordedby the financial institution. This profile is combined with thenormalized profile (embodiment discussed above) acquired from thechannel integration server 130. The financial service cloud 140 maydetermine based on inspection of the consumer's normalized profile andthe consumer's financial profile one or more specific advertisementsthat are targeted to the consumer (at that point in time based on whatis dynamically discovered about the consumer from the profiles). Theseone or more targeted advertisements are overlaid on top of the interfaceof the ATM 110G, as the consumer is performing a financial transaction.The determination of what advertisements to overlay on the existinginterface of the ATM 110G during the transaction can be based on avariety of factors. Some of these factors can include, by way of exampleonly, most recent consumer activity identified in the profiles,statistical analysis based on the consumer activity identified in theprofiles, preferences noted in the profiles, time of day when the ATM110G is accessed, calendar day when the ATM 110G is accessed, physicallocation of the ATM 110G, financial institution associated with the ATM110G, and/or enterprise subscriptions and agreements for using thechannel integration server 130. Moreover, it is noted, that theprocessing to resolve what advertisements to overlay can be achieved bythe channel integration server 130, rather than the financial servicecloud 140. In such a scenario, the channel integration server 130provides the specific advertisements that are to be overlaid back to thefinancial service cloud 140. The resolution of the advertisements tooverlay on the interface of the ATM 110G may also be outsourced to athird-party service that is provided the normalized profile and thefinancial profile of the consumer. This outsourcing can be done by thechannel integration server 130 and/or the financial service cloud 140.

In the previous embodiment and in another embodiment, at least one adnetwork 120 includes an enhanced version of the channel integrationserver 130. This version of the channel integration server 130 providesa custom experience to the consumer while connected over channels110A-110F by using the aggregated profile, which includes a financialprofile acquired from the financial service cloud 140 and the financialcloud 150.

So, the consumer can be serviced in a consistent manner with consistentadvertising interfaces and experiences while connected on channels110A-110F or when connected to channel 110G.

According to an embodiment, the ad networks 120 perform profileaggregation over channels 110A-110F for a consumer and the channel 130provides a mechanism when that consumer is connected over one or more ofthe channels 110A-110F during a session with another service provider todeliver a financial profile of the consumer to the ad networks 120, suchthat the ad networks 120 can augment their profiles for the consumerwith the financial profile during the consumer's session over the one ormore channels 110A-110F.

The advertisements may be activated, via the overlaid interface, topurchase a good or service associated with the advertisements. In anembodiment, the overlaid interface may provide a payment mechanism, suchas the bank account being accessed, entry (manual, scanned, and/orswiped) of a payment card (gift or credit card), or an option to selecta registered payment mechanism associated with the consumer (digitalwallet (having real or a virtual currency (if permissible), credit card,loyalty rewards, PayPal™, and others).

In an embodiment, when a purchase is consummated at the ATM 110G, theoverlaid interface may provide a notification code or Quick Response(QR) code (that the consumer can scan or take a picture of on his/hermobile device (phone, tablet, wearable processing device). The code orQR code can be used to pick/acquire the purchased good/service at adesignated retail outlet by providing the code or QR code as evidence ofthe purchase. In some situations, the purchased good can be delivered toa registered address of the consumer, or acquired via a download from awebsite, perhaps, using the code or QR code.

In an embodiment, the transaction details, associated with a consumerpurchasing a good or service via the overlaid interface, can be emailedto a registered email address for the consumer or texted to a registeredphone number for the consumer. In some cases, the code, QR code, orwebsite link is included in the email or text message.

The payment mechanism (in the overlaid interface) can be, in whole or inpart, serviced via the interface provided by the selected ad network120.

To further illustrate the power of the above-noted technique forintegrating channel advertisements into ATM transactions an examplescenario is presented.

Consider a consumer that prior to visiting an ATM 110G, performs one ormore searches on cameras via a laptop using the Google™ search engine.Later that day or the next day, the consumer visits the ATM 110G towithdrawn funds (having not yet purchased a camera). When the consumerswipes his bank card at the ATM 110G, his name, and perhaps other data,is acquired by the financial service cloud 140. The financial servicecloud 140 establishes or notes the financial transaction as a uniquefinancial transaction session having a financial transaction sessionidentifier. The financial service cloud 140 uses an API for the channelintegration server 130 and passes the financial transaction sessionidentifier with the consumer information to the channel integrationserver 130. The channel integration server 130 generates an anonymoussession identifier that maps to the financial transaction sessionidentifier and passes this information to a selected ad network 120. Thead network 120 acquires profile or federated profile information for theconsumer and sends back an interface to the channel integration server130. The channel integration server 130 maps the anonymous sessionidentifier to the financial transaction session identifier and sends thefinancial transaction session identifier and interface supplied by theselected ad network 120 to the financial service cloud 140. Thefinancial service cloud 140 overlays the interface of the ad network 140on top of an existing interface being used by the consumer on the ATM110G to perform the financial transaction. This creates a pipe beingproxied by the financial service cloud 140 and the channel integrationserver 130 between the ad network 120 and the financial transaction viathe interface. The ad network 120 identifies the consumer's searches fora new camera as occurring earlier in that day and provides a targetedcamera advertisement (perhaps offering a discount if purchased now(while at the ATM 110G) by the consumer) in the overlaid interface. Theconsumer activates the advertisement and payment methods are provided tothe consumer in the overlaid interface of the ATM 110G being serviced bythe ad network 120. One payment mechanism is acquired as the consumer'sbank account at a financial institution associated with the consumer'sATM transaction at the ATM 110G (that payment mechanism acquired througha financial profile from the financial cloud 150). The consumerauthorizes a particular payment mechanism (such as a debit to his/herbank account) and a QR code is presented on the overlaid interface fromthe ad network 120. The consumer captures the QR code with his/her phoneand goes to a nearby retailer and presents the QR code where theconsumer picks up his/her new camera.

It is noted that a variety of operating scenarios are possible and theabove-noted advertisement was presented to illustrate the power of onetechnique of the invention and was not intended to limit other operatingscenarios achievable with the techniques presented herein.

Some of the above-noted aspects of the invention and other aspects arenow presented and discussed with reference to the FIGS. 2-4.

FIG. 2 is a diagram of a method 200 for advertisement channelintegration, according to an example embodiment. The software module(s)that implements the method 200 is referred to as a “channel integrationmanager.” The channel integration manager is implemented as executableinstructions programmed and residing within memory and/or anon-transitory computer-readable (processor-readable) storage medium andexecuted by one or more processors of a device. The processors of thedevice that executes the channel integration manager are specificallyconfigured and programmed to process the channel integration manager.The channel integration manager has access to one or more networksduring its processing. The networks can be wired, wireless, or acombination of wired and wireless.

In an embodiment, the channel integration manager is the channelintegration server 130 of the FIG. 1.

At 210, the channel integration manager maps (or links) a transactionsession identifier for a transaction of a consumer at a SST to ananonymous session identifier. The channel integration manager does thisto comply with more meaningful information about the session to anadvertisement service expected by the advertisement service and its API(the advertisement service is a selection from one of the ad networks120). Moreover, by anonymizing the transaction session identifier, thechannel integration manager provides security to the SST and itsexisting applications and environment, since absent the re-castedanonymous session identifier any selected advertisement service cannotdiscover details about the SST, its environment, or the transaction thatthe consumer is performing at the SST.

According to an embodiment, at 211, the channel integration manageracquires the transaction session identifier from a financial servicehaving access to the transaction. Here, the SST is an ATM and thetransaction is a financial transaction, such that the channelintegration manager relies on a financial service, such as the financialservice cloud 140, to supply details about the transaction. ATM's havevery limited access and security is often restrictive in nature. Thefinancial service often is able to acquire transaction data for thetransaction because it is interposed between the ATM and the financialcloud 150 where the financial transaction is being processed. So, byestablishing a trusted relationship and secure communications with thefinancial service, the channel integration manager is able to acquiresome details regarding the financial transaction from the financialservice.

At 220, the channel integration manager selects an advertisement service(advertisement network 120) for using in channel integration ofadvertisements that are being served to the consumer while at the SST.Selection of the advertisement service can occur in a variety ofmanners.

For example, at 221, the channel integration manager can formulate asearch query that is used for querying a plurality of candidateadvertisements services. The results of the query used to select theadvertisement service. In one instance, the channel integration managerformulates the query with consumer identifying information that isincluded with the transaction session identifier. Consumer identifyinginformation can include one or more of: a customer name, a consumeraddress, a consumer email, a consumer phone number, and the like. Toestablish the transaction at the SST, the consumer may have suppliedsome or the entire consumer identifying information by: entering theinformation manually via an input mechanism of the SST and scanning orinserting a loyalty card having the information. The channel integrationmanager can rely on a service directly interfaced to the SST for theidentifying information or can use some details supplied by the service(such as customer number) to populate the identifying information byusing a loyalty system and the customer number to look up the consumer(“consumer” and “customer” can be used interchangeably herein) in theloyalty system where a record includes the identifying information forthe consumer.

In another case, at 222, the channel integration manager determines theselected advertisement service based on evaluation of pre-defined policyconditions that the channel integration manager is configured to accessand evaluate. These policy conditions can be based on a variety ofconditions, such as but not limited to: an identity of the SST, anidentity of the consumer, a physical location of the SST, a time of day,a calendar day, licensing terms between the channel integration managerand advertisement services, preferences of the consumer, and others.

At 230, the channel integration manager communicates the anonymoussession identifier (can be a link or handle along with networkconnection details (perhaps embedded in the link, which is a UniformResource Locator (URL) link) to the selected advertisement service. Thisprovides a mechanism for the selected advertisement service to integrateinto the ongoing SST transaction session occurring on the SST betweenthe consumer and an enterprise associated with the SST.

According to an embodiment, at 231, the channel integration managerprovides a profile for the consumer to the selected advertisementservice. This can be a loyalty profile for the consumer for anenterprise associated with the channel integration manager or for anenterprise that the channel integration manager has authorized accessto. The profile may be different than other profiles for the consumerknown to the selected advertisement service, such that selectedadvertisement can use the profile to customize targeted advertisementsto the consumer during the transaction at the SST. It may also be thatthe selected advertisement service lacked a profile for the consumer atthe SST, such that the provided profile allows the selectedadvertisement service to begin monitoring and customizing advertisementsto the consumer in other channels 110 where the consumer can bedetected.

In an embodiment, at 232, the channel integration manager providesconsumer identifying information with the transaction session identifierto the selected advertisement service to identify the consumer. Again,this permits the selected advertisement network to serve the consumertargeted and relevant advertisements across multiple channels 110(including the channel associated with the SST, which can be an ATMchannel).

In an embodiment, the identity of the consumer remains anonymous to theselected advertisement network and the channel integration managerprovides with the anonymous session identifier an anonymous profile forthe consumer known to the channel integration manager. This providesoptions to consumers that wish to remain anonymous during SSTtransactions but still allows the selected advertisement service tocustomize advertisements served to that consumer while at the SST.

At 240, the channel integration manager facilitates the proxying of anadvertisement interface supplied by the selected advertisement serviceconcurrent with an existing interface associated with the transactionthat is occurring in real time on the SST with the consumer. By“facilitates” it is meant that the channel integration manager acts as aconduit between a service (such as the financial service cloud 140),which has the ability to access the transaction and/or monitor theexisting interface, and the selected advertisement service for purposesof providing the advertisement interface to the SST with the existinginterface during the transaction.

According to an embodiment, at 241, the channel integration managerpasses the advertisement interface as a script that is executed on theSST. When the advertisement interface is executed on the SST, theadvertisement interface produces presentations that are presented in adefined region representing an overlaid screen on a display of the SSTwhere the consumer is performing the transaction with the SST. Otherscreens having other presentations associated with the existinginterface are available concurrently with the overlaid screen.

In an embodiment, at 242, the channel integration manager passes thetransaction session identifier and the advertisement interface to afinancial service (such as financial service cloud 140) having access tothe transaction to proxy the advertisement interface during thetransaction of the consumer while at the SST. The channel integrationmanager uses the mapping to link the selected advertisement service'sanonymous session identifier back to the transaction session identifierso that the financial service can locate the proper transaction (andsince the financial service may be completely unaware of the anonymoussession identifier and what it means).

It is noted that the advertisement interface can be a link embeddedwithin an image (targeted advertisement image) that when activatedestablishes the anonymous session between the consumer and the selectedadvertisement service. Alternatively, the advertisement interface can bescript as described above that creates the anonymous session without anyaction being required by the consumer during the transaction at the SST.Still further, the advertisement interface can be an image or a form(with no direct execution or linking capabilities or with such embeddedcapabilities turned off for security reasons), where the actions of theconsumer with respect to areas of the image or fields of the form aremonitored and relayed back from the transaction session of the SST toselected advertisement service for a response (responses from theselected advertisement service (which may alter presentations in thefirst screen) are communicated back for delivery to the display of theSST).

FIG. 3 is a diagram of another method 300 for advertisement channelintegration, according to an example embodiment. The software module(s)that implements the method 300 is referred to as a “financial interfacemanager.” The financial interface manager is implemented as executableinstructions programmed and residing within memory and/or anon-transitory computer-readable (processor-readable) storage medium andexecuted by one or more processors of a device. The processors of thedevice that executes the financial interface manager are specificallyconfigured and programmed to process the financial interface manager.The financial interface manager has access to one or more networksduring its processing. The networks can be wired, wireless, or acombination of wired and wireless.

In an embodiment, financial interface manager is the financial servicecloud 140 of the FIG. 1.

At 310, financial interface manager identifies a transaction of aconsumer on a SST.

According to an embodiment, at 311, the financial interface managerreceives notice of the transaction from an intermediate serverinterposed as a proxy server between the SST and an enterprise that isservicing the transaction (such as financial cloud 150 for a financialtransaction occurring on a SST that is an ATM 110G).

At 320, the financial interface manager obtains a session identifier andidentifying information for the consumer from data associated with thetransaction. For example, a customer number in the data with thetransaction may permit a loyalty record for the consumer to be locatedto retrieve the identifying information.

According to an embodiment, at 321, the financial interface managergenerates the session identifier based on the transaction and theidentifying information.

At 330, the financial interface manager supplies the session identifier(handle) and the identifying information to a channel integrationservice (such as the channel integration server 130 or the channelintegration manager (discussed in the FIG. 2 above)).

In an embodiment, at 331, the financial interface manager provides aconsumer profile with the identifying information and the sessionidentifier to the channel integration service. Here, it may be that theloyalty system used to acquire the consumer profile is unavailable tothe channel integration service, such that it can be provided by thefinancial interface manager to the channel integration service.

At 340, the financial interface manager proxies an advertisementinterface supplied by the channel integration service (as possiblyacquired from a selected advertisement network 120) to the transactionat the SST. Presentations produced by the advertisement interfacepresented in a first screen of a display for the SST along with otherpresentations presented in one or more additional screens of the displayduring the transaction. The other presentations being generated by anexisting interface of the SST that is being used to service the ongoingtransaction of the consumer with an enterprise associated with the SST.This permits channel knowledge for the consumer to be utilized duringthe transaction at the SST, as if the consumer were searching theInternet on a laptop, even when the SST may be completely divorced andlack access to channels associated with the Internet (can be any ormultiple channels 110)).

According to an embodiment, at 341, the financial interface managerexecutes a script that produces the presentations.

In an embodiment, at 342, the financial interface manager relays actionsdetected by the consumer during the transaction with respect to theadvertisement interface in the first screen to the channel integrationservice.

In an embodiment of 342 and at 343, the financial interface manager alsoupdates the presentations associated with the advertisement interface tothe first screen in response to response data received back from thechannel integration service.

FIG. 4 is a diagram of a SST 400 having advertisement channelintegration capabilities, according to an example embodiment. Thecomponents of the SST 400 are programmed and reside within memory and/ora non-transitory computer-readable medium and execute on one or moreprocessors of one or more devices. The SST 400 has access and cancommunicate over one or more networks; and the networks can be wired,wireless, or a combination of wired and wireless.

The SST 400 includes a SST 401 having a proxy module 402 programmedwithin memory and/or a non-transitory computer-readable storage media asexecutable instructions of the SST 400.

In an embodiment, the SST 401 is an ATM.

In another embodiment, the SST 401 is a kiosk.

The proxy module 402 is operable to: identify a transaction at the SST401 and proxy an advertisement interface that produces firstpresentations on a first screen of the display simultaneously with otherpresentations produced during the transaction on at least one otherscreen of the display. The details of identifying the transaction andtechniques for proxying the advertisement interface, as well as whatthat advertisement interface can be, were presented in detail above withreference to the FIGS. 1-3.

According to an embodiment, the proxy module 402 if further operable tointeract with a channel integration service (channel integration server130 and/or the channel integration manager described with the FIG. 2above) to acquire the advertisement interface.

In an embodiment, the proxy module 402 is further operable to select anadvertisement service (advertisement network 120) to supply theadvertisement interface. Here, the proxy module is performing functionsdefined above for the channel integration service 130 and/or the channelintegration manager described above with reference to the FIG. 2.

In an embodiment, the proxy module 402 is further operable to supply afinancial service (such as channel integration server 130 and/or thechannel integration manager of the FIG. 2 and operating in modeassociated with an ATM transaction) with a session identifier for thetransaction that uniquely identifies the transaction and the consumer.

In an embodiment of the last embodiment, the proxy module 402 is furtheroperable to supply consumer identifying information and a customerprofile for the consumer with the session identifier to the financialservice.

It should be appreciated that where software is described in aparticular form (such as a component or module) this is merely to aidunderstanding and is not intended to limit how software that implementsthose functions may be architected or structured. For example, modules120, 130, and 140 are illustrated as separate modules, but may beimplemented as homogenous code, as individual components, some, but notall of these modules may be combined, or the functions may beimplemented in software structured in any other convenient manner.

Furthermore, although the software modules are illustrated as executingon one piece of hardware, the software may be distributed over multipleprocessors or in any other convenient manner.

The above description is illustrative, and not restrictive. Many otherembodiments will be apparent to those of skill in the art upon reviewingthe above description. The scope of embodiments should therefore bedetermined with reference to the appended claims, along with the fullscope of equivalents to which such claims are entitled.

In the foregoing description of the embodiments, various features aregrouped together in a single embodiment for the purpose of streamliningthe disclosure. This method of disclosure is not to be interpreted asreflecting that the claimed embodiments have more features than areexpressly recited in each claim. Rather, as the following claimsreflect, inventive subject matter lies in less than all features of asingle disclosed embodiment. Thus the following claims are herebyincorporated into the Description of the Embodiments, with each claimstanding on its own as a separate exemplary embodiment.

1. (canceled)
 2. A method, comprising: providing executable instructionsto a hardware processor from a non-transitory computer-readable storagemedium causing the hardware processor to perform operations comprising:maintaining an aggregated profile of activities and preferences of aconsumer across multiple communication channels; identifying a sessionidentifier associated with a transaction being actively performed by aconsumer at a Self-Service Terminal (SST), wherein the SST is associatedwith a first communication channel of the multiple communicationchannels; generating an anonymous session identifier linked to thesession identifier; selecting a service for the consumer based on theaggregated profile; providing the anonymous session identifier to theservice along with a portion of the aggregated profile associated withthe first communication channel causing the service to interact with theconsumer during the transaction on the SST while both the consumer andthe service have access to the portion of the aggregated profileassociated with the first communication channel for the transaction. 3.The method of claim 2, wherein maintaining further includes maintainingtransaction histories, search histories, contact histories,consumer-related complaints, and the preferences recorded by theconsumer with available services over the multiple communicationchannels.
 4. The method of claim 2, wherein maintaining further includesprocessing existing Application Programming Interfaces (APIs) associatedwith available services to obtain current profiles maintained for theconsumer by the available services and aggregating the current profilesinto the aggregated profile.
 5. The method of claim 4, whereinprocessing the existing APIs further includes removing duplicateactivities and duplicate preferences detected in the current profilesfrom the aggregated profile and maintaining the aggregated profile in anormalized data format.
 6. The method of claim 5, wherein maintainingfurther includes updating the aggregated profile in real time based onnew activities or modified preferences associated with interactionsbetween the consumer and the available services over the multiplecommunication channels.
 7. The method of claim 2, wherein providingfurther includes providing consumer identifying information for theconsumer obtained for the transaction at the SST, the anonymous sessionidentifier, and the portion of the aggregated profile associated withthe first communication channel of the SST to the service.
 8. The methodof claim 7, wherein causing the service to interact with the consumerfurther includes receiving a service interface from the service with theanonymous session identifier and causing the SST based on the anonymoussession identifier that is linked to the session identifier to presentan overlaid screen that is overlaid on a display of the SST with otherpresented screens associated with an existing interface of the SST forthe transaction.
 9. The method of claim 8, wherein causing the SST basedon the anonymous session identifier further includes providing a scriptto the SST for execution, the script when executed by the SST providesthe service interface within the overlaid screen on the display of theSST.
 10. The method of claim 8, wherein causing the SST based on theanonymous session identifier further includes providing the serviceinterface as an image of a form comprising fields associated with theservice interface to the SST to present as the overlaid screen, whereinactions taken by the consumer with respect to the fields of the imageare relayed by the SST to the method and the method proxies the actionsto the service on behalf of the consumer.
 11. The method of claim 8,wherein wherein causing the SST based on the anonymous sessionidentifier further includes providing the service interface as an imageassociated with a link to the SST for presenting as the overlaid screenand when the consumer clicks the image the link activates a consumer toservice session within the overlaid screen on the SST.
 12. A method,comprising: providing executable instructions to a hardware processorfrom a non-transitory computer-readable storage medium causing thehardware processor to perform operations comprising: aggregatingactivities and preferences of a consumer associated with consumerservices occurring over multiple communication channels as an aggregatedprofile; detecting the consumer engaged in a transaction at aSelf-Service Terminal (SST), wherein the transaction is associated witha first consumer service for which the consumer has first activities andfirst preferences that are maintained in the aggregated profile as afirst service consumer profile; identifying a second service based onrecent activities of the consumer associated with the aggregated profileand based on the transaction; causing the SST to provide an interface onthe SST during the transaction between the consumer and the secondservice; and making the first preferences associated with thetransaction accessible to the consumer using the aggregated profileduring interactions between the consumer and the second service throughthe interface.
 13. The method of claim 12 further comprising, processingthe method as a proxy between the consumer engaged in the transaction atthe SST and the second service through the interface.
 14. The method ofclaim 12 further comprising, processing a payment method included in thefirst preferences and used for a first payment for the transaction bythe consumer with the first service over an existing interface as asecond payment for a second transaction of the consumer with the secondservice over the interface.
 15. The method of claim 12, whereindetecting further includes receiving a session identifier for a sessionof the transaction from the first service.
 16. The method of claim 15,wherein receiving the session identifier further includes generating ananonymous session identifier that is linked to the session identifierassociated with the transaction at the SST.
 17. The method of claim 16,wherein identifying the second service further include providing theanonymous session identifier to the second service and providingconsumer identifying information for the consumer that is provided bythe first service.
 18. The method of claim 17, wherein causing furtherincludes receiving the anonymous session identifier and the interfacefrom the second service.
 19. The method of claim 18, wherein receivingthe anonymous session identifier further includes causing the SST topresent the interface within an overlaid screen on a display of the SST,wherein the overlaid screen is overlaid on an existing screen that isassociated with an existing interface of the first service for thetransaction between the consumer and the first service.
 20. A system,comprising: a server comprising a hardware processor and anon-transitory computer-readable storage medium; the non-transitorycomputer-readable storage medium comprising executable instructions; theexecutable instructions when provided to the hardware processor from thenon-transitory computer-readable storage medium cause the hardwareprocessor to perform operations comprising: aggregating activities andpreferences of a consumer associated with consumer services occurringover multiple communication channels as an aggregated profile; detectingthe consumer engaged in a transaction at a Self-Service Terminal (SST),wherein the transaction is associated with a first consumer service forwhich the consumer has first activities and first preferences that aremaintained in the aggregated profile as a first service consumerprofile; identifying a second service based on recent activities of theconsumer associated with the aggregated profile and based on thetransaction; causing the SST to provide an interface on the SST duringthe transaction between the consumer and the second service; and makingthe first preferences associated with the transaction accessible to theconsumer using the aggregated profile during interactions between theconsumer and the second service through the interface.
 21. The system ofclaim 20, wherein the instructions corresponding to the causing furthercause the hardware processor to perform additional operationscomprising: proxying the interactions on behalf of the consumer and thesecond service over an anonymous communication session.